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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

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WAMU 88.5’s Diane Rehm to receive Woman of Distinction Award

Honor will be given June 4 at 2009 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders in College Park, Md.

Diane Rehm, host of WAMU 88.5 and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show, has been selected to receive a Woman of Distinction Award at the 2009 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, which is sponsored by the American Association of University Women and NASPA — Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

"I feel privileged to have been selected for this honor," said Diane Rehm. "As a non-college graduate, and one who watched two children go through the rigorous process of higher learning, I am delighted to be considered an inspiration to the young women just starting along their chosen career paths."

Presented annually at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, the Women of Distinction Awards honor women who have had extraordinary accomplishments and made contributions in their professions or their communities and who represent inspiring role models for women student leaders. Previous recipients include playwright, performer, and activist Eve Ensler; Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA); and Olympic medalist Dominique Dawes. Caryn G. Mathes, WAMU 88.5’s general manager, received the award in 2007.

“The Women of Distinction Awards have been a critical piece of NCCWSL for almost 25 years, and in that time we’ve honored women who have done amazing things in their work, their communities and for the world,” said Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, co-chair of the selection committee for the Women of Distinction Awards. “In thinking of honorees for this award, Diane Rehm came to mind because she affects so many of us through The Diane Rehm Show and has inspired us with her personal story. Her show is often on the cutting edge of discussions about national and international issues, and many of those issues are important to women. She causes us to think and to act, and that’s exactly what we want young women to do. Diane Rehm is an incredible role model for women, especially those who aspire to be engaged in public service or the media, because she has continued to effect change by using her program as a platform. Finally, the way she has coped with her vocal disorder is inspiring. Her struggle reminds us of the different struggles so many women face.”

Receiving the award alongside Rehm will be Anucha Browne Sanders, senior associate athletic director of marketing at the University at Buffalo; Martine Rothblatt, founder of United Therapeutics; Melissa Poe Hood, founder of Kids for a Clean Environment; and Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rehm and her fellow award recipients will join a prestigious group of more than 100 women who have been honored since the award was established in 1985. Nominations come from people working in higher education and public policy, students and representatives of AAUW chapters across the country. Nominees represent a wide-range of professions and include women of all ages and every region of the country to reflect the diverse audience of members and conference attendees. The awards ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m., June 4 at the University of Maryland’s Stamp Student Union in College Park.

Rehm is a native Washingtonian who began her radio career in 1973 as a volunteer for WAMU 88.5. In 1979, she was selected to host WAMU 88.5’s local morning talk show, Kaleidoscope, which was renamed The Diane Rehm Show in 1984. Each week, more than 2.2 million listeners across the country tune in to the program, which has grown from a local morning call-in show to a public broadcasting powerhouse. The program ranks among the “Top 10 Most Powerful Programs on Public Radio,” according to Audience Research Analysis. Rehm has been named one of Washington’s “100 Most Powerful Women” and one of the “150 Most Influential People in Washington,” by Washingtonian magazine.

The Diane Rehm Show features in-depth conversations on what’s happening in Washington and around the world. Recent guests include then-Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), financier and philanthropist George Soros, Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and actor Robert Redford. The Diane Rehm Show is produced at WAMU 88.5 and distributed by National Public Radio, NPR Worldwide and SIRIUS XM satellite radio. It also can be heard online at www.drshow.org and is available via podcast.

Since 1985, NCCWSL has brought together thousands of college and university women to develop leadership skills, network with other student leaders and interact with women who hold leadership positions. Since 1881, AAUW has been one of the nation's leading voices promoting education and equity for women and girls. With more than 11,000 members at 1,400 campuses and representing 29 countries, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education is the foremost professional association for student affairs administrators, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students.

American University’s radio station since 1961, WAMU 88.5 is the leading public radio station for NPR news and information in the greater Washington, D.C., area, with more than 677,000 listeners in the region. WAMU 88.5 is “your NPR news station in the nation’s capital.” WAMU broadcasts three HD channels – the flagship frequency at 88.5-1; WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, a bluegrass and Americana station, at WAMU 88.5-2; and WAMU-3, at 88.5-3, a news and information station broadcasting international coverage from the BBC and offering public radio programs unavailable elsewhere in the Washington area.